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Dawit II of Axum
Dawit II of Axum (1049-) was the king of Axum from 1053, succeeding Dawit I of Axum. Biography Dawit II was born in 1049 to King Dawit I of Axum, a member of the House of Gideon who was an Ethiopian Jewish monarch. Dawit became king in 1053 after the death of his father, and in 1066 he married Pernilla, a courtier of the House of Sparrhult. She was the only woman available to marry, as the neighboring realms were hostile to him, and she was the only noblewoman of his realm. He lost prestige due to his marriage to a courtier, but he regained prestige by saying that people respected wealth and rejecting the possibility of a royal aid duty for his marriage's costs. Under Dawit, Axum campaigned against the neighboring Sunni Muslim ruler Count Zeyd of Assab in present-day Eritrea, who gained the support of King Abdirahman of Berbera in their religious struggle against Dawit. Dawit's forces crushed the Muslims in the early battles, but a failed assault on Zeyd's stronghold left the Axumites with less men than the Assabites, and they were unable to gain the advantage in a siege. Over the next few years, Dawit lost the advantage, although he won every battle that he fought. He had on-and-off warfare with Assab as well as small conflicts with the king of Abyssinia and Chief Krisanthos of Hayya, both of whom made peace with him after almost no fighting. Dawit built his empire, but eventually, the Abyssinians seized Assab before he could. Dawit decided to go up against a huge enemy by attacking Abyssinia, taking over their territory piece-by-piece in the 1070s and 1080s. Dawit proved to be a strong leader during these times, as well as one who sought to be exalted. On 6 April 1077 a rather nettlesome neighbor sent envoys begging for money or demanding tribute, so Dawit nailed their hats to their heads. The neighbor became rather quiet after he sent his men back, increasing his prestige. On 15 April 1081, he celebrated the holy festival of Passover, sending invitations out to several nobles. Count Isaac of Semien claimed that he had other plans, and Dawit had a decreased opinion of him temporarily. On the first night, the seder dinner began, with matzo flatbread being consumed in liberal amounts with bitter maror herbs. Everyone was required to drink four cups of wine, each at a specific point during the seder, as the story of the Exodus from Egypt was discussed. On 27 April, the vassals returned home to celebrate the rest of Passover, but most agreed that his seder dinner was worth the trip. During this time, he also became the guardian of Teruworq Makhzumi, the son of former general Maya'ir Makhzumi. He taught him several good skills, and Teruworq was happy with his upbringing. He told him to be more patient after he punched the cook in her face, and he taught him to be kind after he caught him torturing a rat. In 1084, he was lucky enough to lose his opponent King Kedus Harbe of Abyssinia, who committed suicide, and his son Yemrehana II Krestos of Abyssinia was only 12. Dawit campaigned against them and installed Duke Maya'ir of Shewa as the head of the Duchy of Shewa after pressing his claim against the Zagwe dynasty. On 2 April 1084, Dawit lost his wife Pernilla, and he remarried to Queen Adina of Axum, who was of lowborn caste, even lower than his previous wife. In 1086 Dawit crushed a revolt by Count Sheshet of Akordat, but he mercifully released him from his dungeon, increasing his vassals' opinions of him. In December 1086 an earthquake struck Axum, so he had a peasant show him the way to the site. He took a closer look and ordered that the gap be closed, and he ordered it to be filled with stones. When the workers became afraid that someone was trapped, he still ordered them to fill the gap with stones, and they kept shoveling until the gap was finally filled, stopping the earthquake. This made all of his subjects love him, as he personally saved them from the disaster. In April 1087 he hosted another Passover seder, which Mayor Haeran of Mek'ele and Count Baruch of Tigrinya said that they could not go to due to other plans. Unfortunately, Baron Desta died in June, so he had his daughter Baroness Lishan of Adigrat marry Isaac Fakhkharid, his Marshal. He also gave the city of Gondar to Yacob, a Muslim Assabi commander who later converted to Judaism and became a noble of Axum, as well as Lakomelza to Rabbi Melaku of Yeha, and Roha to Yosef Shalbib, a commander. He betrothed his daughter to Teruworq, who became Mayor of Gondar, and she gained prestige from marrying the relative of a king. In 1090 he married his daughter Belkis Gideon to Count Sinda Ar'ad of Massawa (the son of the late Count Negus Zare of Massawa), having secured Sinda's conversion to Judaism first. In 1092 he usurped the Duchy of Gondar from King Kedus II Harbe of Abyssinia. On 13 September 1092 he fell ill, but on 17 March 1093 he recovered. On 20 June he hosted Passover Seder again, which Count Isaac of Semien and Count Sheshet of Akordat declined to attend due to having other plans. In 1093, Dawit conquered Assab from Abyssinia, landlocking the empire and letting Axum take over the shore with the Red Sea. He planned to press Teruworq's claim on the County of Ankober and fight Abyssinia, and he faced the immature King Dawit of Abyssinia, who recently overthrew king Kedus II Harbe. Makuria got involved in the war to help Abyssinia, but the Axumites had a larger army. However, on 19 November 1093 Sheshet rebelled again, and Dawit had to deal with his revolt. Personal life In his marriage to Pernilla, Dawit had several children: *Falashina Gideon (born 31 May 1069) *Belkis Gideon (born 1073) *Pernilla Gideon (born 1074) *Finhas Gideon (born 3 March 1077) Dawit was disliked by many for being craven, afraid to fight on the battlefield. He was also cynical, a trait that other disliked as well. However, he was known to be merciful, although he was tenacious and violent when he sought to conquer an enemy or assassinate a rival. Category:Axumite kings Category:Kings Category:Axumites Category:Ethiopian Jews Category:Jews Category:Ethiopians Category:1049 births